Irish blown away by Nolan's Ned Kelly

The Ned Kelly series has "captured the imagination" of the Irish public.

NGA

A museum in Dublin hosting an exhibition of Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly series has been overwhelmed by large crowds.

The 26 paintings have been on loan from the National Gallery of Australia to the Irish Museum of Modern Art since November.

The famous works tell the story of Ned Kelly and his gang from the shooting of police constables at Stringybark Creek, to the siege of the Glenrowan hotel and the trial which ended in a hanging sentence for Kelly.

IMMA head of exhibitions Rachael Thomas says the show has been a resounding success.

"It's really taken us by absolute surprise, it's been an out and out success," she said.

"We have had really unprecedented figures so we are so delighted and it's really captured the imagination here of the Irish public."

Ms Thomas says it has been so popular she has had to bolster security to deal with the influx of visitors.

"(Numbers) are literally five times more than our more national average for this time of year," she said.

"So how I've dealt with it is at the front with security guards, extra manning and we've had to put extra security around the works which for us is unheard of."

Ms Thomas says people keep coming back.

"It's really, really great that so many people want to see it. They just want to see and absorb these wonderful, wonderful paintings," she said.

The paintings will return to Australia after the exhibition closes on Sunday.